Rivers Inlet, BC - Here We Come

 

 

"Rivers Inlet is a fjord located on the central coast of British Columbia (BC), Canada. It is in the heart of one of the world's largest remaining tracts of temperate rainforest, and it is the traditional territory of the Wuikinuxv (Oweekeno) First Nations. Rivers Inlet epitomises a unique coastal environment, with rich and diverse marine resources that have sustained First Nations people for thousands of years, and that continues to sustain high value commercial and recreational fisheries, aquaculture, forestry, transportation and tourism ..."

source:  http://riversinlet.eos.ubc.ca/about_rivers_inlet.html

 

We first learned of Rivers Inlet three years ago from our friends Marilyn and Wayne, the exceptional photographer and "rabid fisherman". His photos and tales of BIG salmon, halibut and lingcod had us ready to follow him north. Our plans to sail to Rivers Inlet in the summer of 2013 got derailed. This year, despite medical issues, we were determined to go.

 

Wayne and Marilyn, on Let Freedom Ring, planned to leave on Monday, June 23rd. Greg worked like the devil readying Comocean and installing our new water maker. We cast off our lines and finally headed north on the afternoon of Tuesday the 24th.

 

 Semiahmoo Marina, Washington

 

Semiahmoo Resort at the end of Semiahmoo Spit

Good bye to the Great Blue Herons fishing off Birch Bay Point

 

 It rained off and on throughout the day as we motored to Active Pass in the Gulf Islands. Thanks to my beloved AIS, I could see the ferry traffic clear through this very busy, tight passage.  I was hailed  twice on VHF while transiting. First by a ship that was concerned about my position in the channel and wanted to know my intentions and then asked that I stay to his starboard. Then as we exited, I was contacted by the communications officer of a BC ferry that requested that we pass "green to green". Being a little green myself in this business of dancing with the "big boats", it tool me a minute to realize that she wasn't talking about a location but wanted to pass "starboard (green) to starboard" so that she was sure I wouldn't try to run across her bow.

 

Safely through Active Pass once again, we turned NW to Montaque Harbour. Montague is my favorite place to check into Canada. As Nexus card holders we can call Canadian Customs just as we cross the invisible line in the water that marks the Canadian border (making sure we still have a cell signal), making our declarations and telling them where we plan to check in. Our chart plotter told us that we would arrive at Montaque Harbour at approx. 18:20. Here's the deal if you haven't done this: Customs agrees to the location and if there isn't an agent there by 5 minutes after our appt. time you are free to go. Montaque is on Galiano Island in the Gulf Islands and I have never seen a Customs agent there - hence the reason it is my favorite place to check in.

Montique Harbour Marina with Customs check in point at the far left.

As we entered Montaque Harbour we had seen Let Freedom Ring on our AIS and we headed over to them after clearing. LFR was rafted to their friends on Silent Waters PS23 and everyone was in the party mood - celebrating Wayne's 70th birthday. After joining them for smoked ribs and Nanaimo Bars with ice cream we were ferried back to our boat for a nice quiet evening.



Let Freedom Ring on the left with their "dinghy" the Proline

I mentioned that Wayne is a "rabid" fisherman and that he was going after the BIG fish. LFR actually has two dinghies - note the little dinghy on top of the Proline fishing boat. In the beginning Wayne had a hell of a time getting the fish into the little dinghy - they were just too big, so he purchased the Proline. It not only is better suited to fishing, it makes a great vehicle for heading off to resupply.

Comocean and LFR said good bye to Silent Waters the next morning and continued on to the big city of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. That little adventure is a whole 'nother story.